Of Muffins and Magnolias
by Ciara in cotton socks
Summary: Mother's Day provides a unique opportunity for Kurt and Finn to bond, and for Finn to show he's not as dumb as he may seem  NO SLASH, focusing more on the fraternal aspect of their relationship!  Please R&R!


**A/N: This idea has been in my head for a while now, so I thought it best to just get it out there. Apologies if it's not the best. In fact, it may be pretty dreadful. But it's my birthday, so try not to be too mean!**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned **_**Glee**_**, why would I be writing **_**fan**_**fiction?**

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When Kurt emerged from his basement bedroom in his fluffy white slippers and genuine ice-blue Japanese silk kimono, he was certain that he was seeing things. Maybe his dad was right, perhaps all his cosmetics products were making him hallucinate. Either that or he'd stepped into an episode of the _Twilight Zone_. There was no other explanation for what he was seeing.

Finn Hudson was standing in the Hummel-Hudson kitchen. That in itself was not unusual. Finn had an immense appetite, so he spent plenty of time in there wolfing down chips and tacos and God knows what else. What was unusual was the fact that Finn was standing in the kitchen weighing out what looked like wholewheat flour. And wearing a pink frilled apron.

"Um... what's going on?" Kurt ventured uncertainly. Finn glanced up and grinned at him.

"Oh, hey Kurt," he greeted_, _waving his wooden spoon jovially. "Want some coffee? I just put on a fresh pot.."

"Uh... sure. Finn, are we by any chance trapped in an alternate reality?"

"I don't think so."

"Did you hit your head and obtain a concussion?"

"Nope."

"Brain tumour?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Then what in the name of Gucci is going on here?" Kurt demanded. When Finn shot him a confused glance, he gestured to the baking equipment and ingredients scattered all over the kitchen countertops. Finn smiled sheepishly and flushed red.

"Oh. That."

"Yes Finn, _that_."

The taller boy shrugged his broad shoulders and pointed to the calendar hanging on the wall, some glossy homage to souped-up cars that Kurt's dad got free at the garage. Somebody had circled today's date with a leaky blue ballpoint pen. Kurt stared blankly at it.

"Dude," Finn said. "It's Mother's Day."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so since it's always been just me and my mom at home, I used to bake with her when I was little. And I know it's goofy, but to show that she actually got something through my potato head I've cooked her breakfast on Mother's Day for as long as I can remember. Just don't tell Puck, he'll never let me live it down."

Finn finished his explanation and let out a sigh before glancing at Kurt, wondering if he was about to burst out laughing. Instead, the camp fashionista smiled tearfully.

"Finn, that is just about the sweetest thing I have ever heard, and that includes Artie proclaiming his love for Tina in the hallway before first period yesterday. You should not be ashamed of loving your mother, it's very admirable."

"Thanks man," Finn said awkwardly. He began to tear around the kitchen in a whirlwind of lanky arms and baking ingredients.

"Can I do anything to help?" offered Kurt. Finn glanced up and grinned at him in a long-suffering way.

"Dude, you're a lifesaver," he sighed. "You can help with the blueberry muffin batter."

"Sounds delicious and nutritious," agreed Kurt. "Just let me change into something more appropriate for my foray into the world of breakfast cuisine."

He dashed down the staircase he had just ascended and returned five minutes later dressed in black skinny jeans and a white smock with a chequered chef's hat atop his perfectly coiffed locks. Finn didn't even bother to ask why he had a chef's hat in his posession. He had learned to stop asking questions about his stepbrother's wardrobe and accessory choices long ago.

"Alright, point me at something and tell me what to do," Kurt chirped. Finn smirked and nodded.

"You can work on the muffin batter," he suggested, steering Kurt towards a giant red mixing bowl before bustling away to fetch more ingredients from the pantry. Kurt was still standing in his original position when he returned. The smaller boy was staring at the ingredients lined up neatly beside the bowl with an air of great confusion.

"Kurt, are you honestly telling me you don't know how to make muffins?" Finn asked incredulously.

"In case you hadn't noticed, my dad is more the bacon-and-eggs-coated-in-grease type Finn. I haven't had a feminine role model with whom I could cook delicious treats since I was six years old."

Kurt turned away from his stepbrother with tears in his eyes. He hadn't meant to snap at Finn. He was only joking, after all. But he couldn't help himself. It wasn't fair. Finn still had his mom, someone who would cuddle him if he had a bad day and make him chicken soup when he had a sick stomach. Kurt loved his dad more than anything in the world, even more than Lady Gaga or Marc Jacobs, but sometimes he really missed his mom. Today was one of those times.

"Shit!" Finn groaned from behind him. He slouched across the kitchen and came to stand next to the smaller boy. "Dude, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot."

"'S OK," sniffed Kurt, though in all honesty it wasn't. He dabbed frantically at his red-rimmed eyes with a paisley-print handkerchief. "I'm OK."

"Kurt, I'm so, so sorry!" Finn exclaimed. "I never even thought... God, I'm such an idiot!"

"Don't worry about it Finn," the smaller boy smiled weakly. "You've just been in the routine so long, you forgot things were different this year. I'm the same, I wouldn't have even known it was Mother's Day if you hadn't told me. I guess Dad and I haven't had much to celebrate for a long time."

Finn gave him a jocular punch to the arm and Kurt attempted not to wince. "Dude, I can tone it down a bit, I-"

"No!" Kurt exclaimed. "Finn, under no circumstances will you 'tone down' your Mother's Day tradition to suit me and my waterworks. However, perhaps you should take over the muffin making. I can turn my attention to a first-rate hot breakfast, if that's alright?"

Finn smiled at the teary-eyed countertenor and nodded. "That sounds perfect."

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Kurt padded softly down the hallway, his slippers muffling the sound of his footsteps. He had one finger pressed to his cherubic lips to keep Finn silent. The tall quarterback lurched behind him with a heavy breakfast tray clutched in his hands. A couple of his muffins sat on a china plate, and Kurt had to admit they looked delicious. If it wasn't for the fact that his butt would look like one if he ate any, he would have devoured a couple of them in quick succession. Next to that was Kurt's slap-up mixed grill breakfast, as well as some freshly-squeezed orange juice and a small pot of tea. As a last minute decorative touch, Kurt had taken off down the stairs to the bedroom he and Finn shared and emerged clutching a pretty off-white flower in his hands. He popped it into a tiny crystal vase and beamed.

"Magnolias are just beautiful," he murmured, almost to himself, before leading Finn to their parents' bedroom. He knocked softly on the door and then the two boys entered with a rousing chorus of "Happy Mother's Day!"

Burt woke with a startled yelp and almost fell out of the bed. Carole, however, merely opened her eyes and smiled. Finn wondered what on earth was in the air today, because she was crying just as much as Kurt. His mom held out her arms and he rushed into her waiting embrace as he always did, not caring that both Kurt and his dad were watching. However, Carole Hudson cut their hug unexpectedly short and he glanced up at her in bemusement.

"Kurt," the bushy-haired woman said in a quiet voice. "Would you come here?"

All eyes in the room were on the slight form of Kurt Hummel. The fashionista bit his lip in an attempt to stem the flow of tears. His globe-like green eyes travelled from Carole's joyful expression to Finn's kind one and came to land on his dad. Burt Hummel was sitting up in bed with his arms folded and an unreadable expression on his face. However, when his son's eyes found his he nodded forcefully. Kurt gave a small sob and ran to hug Carole. Finn allowed the two to have their moment before joining in again awkwardly. In another lifetime, Kurt would have fainted from the physical contact with the object of his affections. Now, however, with that ridiculous crush stamped out like a beetle being crushed beneath a human foot, he just felt like he was part of a proper family. Admittedly, that did make him a walking cliché, but Kurt didn't mind. He just buried his face in Carole's hair and enjohyed the fact that a jock was touching off him without wanting to slushie him or toss him in a dumpster.

"Mom, your breakfast will be getting cold," Finn reminded Carole, and the trio broke apart contentedly. Kurt and Burt exchanged sad smiles. Finn noticed this and cleared his throat.

"Kurt, can I talk to you outside?" he asked pointedly. Kurt was surprsied, but he aquiesced.

"What's wrong Finn?" he questioned as soon as they were outside the bedroom door. "I hope I wasn't intruding on a private moment with your mother."

"Wha- oh, no!" Finn exclaimed. "No, that's cool dude. I like having you as my kinda-brother."

"Well then, what is it?"

"I... uh, I forgot to get my mom a gift," the quarterback hissed. "Do you wanna come with me to the store while I get a gift? It might be a bit weird for you here on your own with them today..."

"I'd love to Finn," murmured Kurt, genuinely touched by this show of fraternal friendship. "I'll just go get my coat."

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Finn kept fiddling with the stereo in his beat-up old Chevy Impala as he and Kurt drove into Lima. He would settle on a song for a couple of moments before losing interest and switching again. Sort of like an excitable puppy, Kurt surmised.

'_I wanna be a billionaire, so frickin' bad...'_

'_... livin' it up at the Hotel California...'_

'_... just dance, gonna be OK...'_

'_... don't stop believin', hold on to that feelin'...'_

He stopped changing the channel when the Journey classic came on, a smile on his handsome features. Kurt smiled too; that song was so important, not just to them but to all of New Directions. They hummed along happily for a few minutes until Finn pulled up outside the florist's.

"Do you want some help?" Kurt offered. "I doubt botany is your strong point."

"No thanks man," said Finn hurriedly. "I know exactly what to get."

And before Kurt could say anything more, the taller boy had ducked out of the car and into All Occasions Florist's.

_Weird_, Kurt thought, but he shrugged it off and began to flick through the radio stations until he found one dedicated to classic musical theatre numbers. Soon enough, Finn ambled back out of the shop with a large bouquet of flowers in pink-and-white cellophane wrappings.

"Everything OK?" he asked as he climbed back into the car.

"Of course," Kurt said with his trademark awkward laugh. "I can't get into much trouble locked in your car for five minutes."

"I locked you in? Oh crap, I'm so sorry Kurt, I-"

"Finn, relax, I survived," Kurt drawled. "Now, let me see what you've got for Carole."

The quarterback held out the bouquet clumsily and shoved them towards Kurt. He peeled back the wrappings and gave a soft 'Oh' of recognition. He held the beautiful blossoms up to his face and breathed in their wonderful aroma.

"Magnolias," he whispered in a broken voice. His eyes began to blur with tears again and Finn merely smiled mysteriously. "Finn, what are you doing? You missed the turn for our house."

"I know," replied Finn cryptically, and he kept driving.

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Fifteen minutes later, Finn pulled to a stop. Kurt looked out the window and then back at the teenager who he had come to think of as his brother. The familiar gates of the graveyard glinted in the early afternoon sunshine. Kurt put a hand to his heart.

"Oh Finn..."

The taller boy shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and shuffled his feet. Kurt could tell he was embarrassed to have shown such affection, but he thought it was touching. Rachel had a good one there.

"Finn, why...?"

Finn coughed huskily and rubbed at his nose with self-conscious awkwardness. "I just figured you might like to visit your mom on Mother's Day too."

Kurt blinked and then threw his arms around Finn. To his credit, the latter didn't squirm or make any smart remarks. He just patted Kurt awkwardly on the back and ruffled his hair in a companionable way. The diva made to get out of the car and then paused.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you come with me?"

Finn smiled at Kurt and nodded. "Of course."

As they walked through the narrow rows of tombstones, Finn began to read the names and death dates. He had never been in this graveyard; his dad was buried in Lima's other burial ground. This one was nice. It was immaculately maintained, with neat sloping lawns and pretty cherry blossom trees. Finn had never met Kurt's mom, but he heard both Kurt and Mr Hummel talk about her sometimes. From what he could gather, she was a wonderful woman. He figured Kurt got his compassion and strength in the face of adversity from her. He thought this was the perfect resting place for her.

Eventually, Kurt veered to the left and came to a stop at a small square grave. It was covered in pale grey gravel and the pink quartzite headstone was as beautiful as it was simple. There were a couple of old bunches of flowers left near the headstone, partially obscuring the epitaph. Finn stood a little way away from him as Kurt moved forward to remove them. The fashionable teen paused by the headstone and let his hand trail longingly along his mother's name. When he had moved back to stand next to Finn, the taller boy handed him the bouquet of magnolias wordlessly.

"Oh no!" Kurt exclaimed. "Finn I couldn't, they're for your-"

"No they're not. They never were."

"But how did you know that..."

"That they were her favourite flowers?" Finn finished. "You always have a vase of them on your side of the bedroom, and you never leave dead ones there. I see you every morning before school, before you've even done your skincare thing, you smell them and you get that sad look on your face like you did that time at my old house when you told me about her broken dresser. It wasn't hard to figure out."

Kurt shook his head in amazement and laid the flowers down on the grave with one final pat.

"Happy Mother's Day, Mommy," he whispered.

"Happy Mother's Day, Mrs Hummel."

The two boys walked back through the graveyard in silence. Kurt was trying not to cry again and Finn was focusing intently on a piece of dirt on the toe of his Converse trainer. Only once they were back in the car did Kurt break the silence.

"You didn't need to get your mother a gift at all, did you?" he asked Finn, his voice sounding stuffy and adenoidal. Finn smiled shyly.

"Naw, I got Rachel to help me pick out a bracelet weeks ago."

"And you had all this planned from the start, didn't you?"

"Maybe..."

"Tell me Finn, how is is that you can pull off something like this without me knowing, but you still need to cheat off Brittany in Math class?"

Finn laughed softly and ruffled the smaller boy's hair. And Kurt was struck once again by the fact that he was part of a real family for the first time since his mother had died.

He had a real family, and a real brother.

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**Oh dear, I don't know what to think. Please review, even just a couple of words?**

**Thanks for reading!**


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